Although this 2004 kit is boxed as a 1/48th Monogram F-4E Phantom II, the plastic mold is actually the 80s Hasegawa F-4E standard. The kit is still holding up very well and produces a good looking display aircraft out of the box.
Notable Kit Features:
Decent cockpit details and ejection seats
Seated pilot figures & boarding ladder included
Finely engraved panel lines with sharp surface details as well
Generally a good fit of parts
Non-slatted wing with long or short nose gun muzzle included
Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles included (unusual for Hasegawa)
Thin, clear glass with separate canopies, which can be displayed open or closed (this kit also offered the one-piece closed canopy)
Detailed instructions with reference photos and paint tips
Four decal options with two different shark-mouth varieties (or no teeth option;)
Build Inspiration:
I had last built a F-4E from the (simplified, raised panel-line) Italeri kit back in 1988 and had felt that Phantom representative was in need of an update for quite some time. Of course I had the 1/48th Monogram F-4E Phantom II in the stash for a time but hadn't got around to slating it. I had also picked up the decal sheet (ages ago) to do Paula 01 (67-0362) which was the Steve Ritchie & Chuck DeBellvue airframe used on their double "MiG kill" mission 08JL72... upon closer inspection of the decals, the Gorillia's squadron decal had some alignment issues and the TAC badge appeared too bright for my liking. More research produced the airframe I could work more easily with, as I discovered F-4E 68-0338 which had the "hard-wing" short gun muzzle combination, no squadron badge and two MiG kill markings on the splitter plate. The victories were from two separate downings of MiG-21s over North Vietnam, one on 31MA72 by Bruce G, Leonard Jr. & Jeffery S. Feinstein while with 13TFS 432TRW and one on 16SE72 by Calvin B. Tibbett & William S. Hargrove call sign Chevey03 while with 555TFS 432TRW based at Udorn.
Heads-Up Report:
The ejection seats have no harnesses (the pilots do)
The intake interiors are not great, with gaps at the joins and little depth, so you will have to deal with these shallow intakes. I filled the gaps and painting the rear of the intakes black. (I have heard of putting a photo of the interior intakes at the back of the inlet to replicate the engine face but haven't tried that as yet.)
The fuselage of the aircraft is a bit of a challenge to get a great fit without sanding (which results in challenging re-scribing) I glued it up in sections taking care to align it as best I could along the way
The front underside fuselage to wing join typically has a bit of a step and a gap to be dealt with - I usually use pieces of very thin plastic card to shim and fill here
Some pin ejector marks are visible especially on the gear doors
I find the small pin fittings of the horizontal tail planes to the fuselage a bit inadequate
I needed to adjust the main gear to get it to sit at 90 degrees - the actuators seem too short to do the job so the actuator was moved inboard
The multi-piece canopy is complex (by F-4 design) and the fit is only OK (and fiddly if open - not especially well fitting if closed) The use of the one-piece closed canopy helped here however you have to ensure a dust free cockpit prior to sealing the canopy
I glued on the intake splitter vanes post painting. The way Hasegawa has designed the kit you can do this and get a better paint application behind the plates
Kit Additions / Modifications:
The upper wing gear reinforcements need to be removed and sanded smooth
Bottom camera mounts and antennas may require removal
Used decals cobbled together from the kit and my spares stash
Finishing:
The main finish was to be in USAF TAC Jungle consisting of FS 30219 Tan / 34079 Dark Green / 34102 Medium Green over the underside FS 36622 Light Gray. So lots of masking here. The camouflage was weathered by spraying variations of paint tone (darker along the panel lines and 'patched areas'). The blue tail cap was painted on. A gloss coat was then sprayed using Klear / Pledge floor finish to prepare for decals and washes which were flowed on to add weathering. The final matt coat was sprayed over the decals and painted sections, using Model Master dullcoat, to complete the tactical finish. The metal exhaust areas were done utilizing about four different shades of metal to get the proper effect of afterburner use exhausts. I do this by adding a selection of black, brown or red to the steel shade base to get various tones of metal. A sealer coat of clear is used between the coats of metal. The darker final tones are smudged onto the burner cans to complete the look.
The After-Build Report:
The 1/48th Monogram F-4E Phantom II still builds up into a nice model with adequate detail. These (Hasegawa) kits have since been eclipsed by more detailed models, however they still have their place when a lower price point is desired. In 1/48th scale the Zoukei-Mura SMS F-4E is most likely "King of the Hill" now, but you will have to decide if it is worth the extra cost for your project.
Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers
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